Ishaya Bakut

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Ishaya Bakut

| honorific_prefix = Major General

| image = File:Portrait_of_Ishaya_Bakut_Nigeria.jpg

| caption =

| width =

| office1 = Military Governor of Benue State

| term_start1 = 18 Sep 1986

| term_end1 = December 1987

| predecessor1 = Yohanna Madaki

| successor1 = Idris Garba

| office = Commander, ECOMOG Peacekeeping Force, Liberia

| term_start = September 1991

| term_end = December 1992

| predecessor = Maj-Gen. R.M. Kupolati

| successor = Brig-Gen. T. Olurin

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1947|8|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Kurmi-Bi, Zonkwa, Zangon Kataf LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2015|3|21|1947|8|16}}

| party =

| Educational background =

| allegiance = {{flag|Nigeria}}

| branch = {{Army|Nigeria}}

| rank = 20px Major General

}}

Ishaya Bakut (16 August 1947 – 21 March 2015) was Military Governor of Benue State in Nigeria from September 1986 to December 1987 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.{{cite web

|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Nigeria_federal_states.htm

|title=Nigerian States

|publisher=WorldStatesmen

|access-date=2010-01-04}}{{cite web | last=Guardian | first=The | title=A Tribute To Ishaya Bakut (1947-2015) - Nigeria and World News | website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News | date=2015-04-11 | url=https://editor.guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/a-tribute-to-ishaya-bakut-1947-2015/ | access-date=2023-06-06 | archive-date=6 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606115705/https://editor.guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/a-tribute-to-ishaya-bakut-1947-2015/ | url-status=dead }}

He was Field Commander in Liberia of the ECOMOG West African multinational force from September 1991 to December 1992.{{cite book

|title=Liberia: the heart of darkness : accounts of Liberia's civil war and its destabilizing effects in West Africa

|author=Gabriel I. H. Williams

|page=167

|publisher=Trafford Publishing

|year=2002

|isbn=1-55369-294-2}}

Birth and education

Ishaya Bakut was born on 16 August 1947 in Kurmi-Bi, Zonkwa in Zangon Kataf LGA in Kaduna State.

He attended Government College, Kaduna (1961–1965) on a Shell BP Scholarship.

In 1966 he went to the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, graduating in March 1969, when he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant. He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1971–1975) where he earned a BSc Engineering.

He attended the United States School of Engineering (1977–1978), the Command and Staff College, Jaji (1979–1980) and the National Defence College, New Delhi in 1985 where he obtained his MSc{{cite web

|url = http://greaterbenue.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=121

|title = Colonel Ishaya Bakut

|publisher = Government of Benue State of Nigeria

|access-date = 2010-01-04

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110711123635/http://greaterbenue.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=121

|archive-date = 11 July 2011

|url-status = dead}}

Early military career

He was a Company and Battalion Commander in the Infantry during the Nigerian Civil War (1969–1970). He was appointed Commander of 41 Engineers Brigade, Kaduna in 1976 and became a Senior Operations Officer, Operational Engineering. He served in the Nigerian contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (April 1980 – February 1981). Other positions were Directing Command and Staff College, Jaji (1981–1983), Colonel, General Staff and Army Headquarters, Lagos, and Commander 41 Engineers Brigade, Kaduna.

Later career

Col. Bakut was appointed Military Governor of Benue state on 18 September 1986.{{Cite web

| title = Col. Ishaya Bakut - The Military Governor, Benue State of Nigeria

| work = Library of Congress Africa Pamphlet Collection - Flickr

| date = 2 May 2014

| access-date = 2014-05-11

| url = https://www.flickr.com/photos/pohick2/13969846149/in/set-72157644200924229

}} There were no major developments in the state during his rule, which ended in December 1987.{{cite web

|url=http://odili.net/news/source/2006/jan/31/220.html

|title=Benue State at 30: The people and their struggles

|author=Tyodzua Atim

|date=30 January 2006

|publisher=ThisDay

|access-date=2010-01-04

}}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

He was appointed Field Commander in Liberia of the ECOMOG West African multinational force on 28 September 1991.

He declared his intention that ECOMOG would be an impartial and non-political peacekeeping force.{{cite web

|url = http://www.sc-sl.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=kfoGm1VKHA4%3D&tabid=160

|title = THE PROSECUTOR OF THE SPECIAL COURT V. CHARLES GHANKAY TAYLOR

|date = 21 July 2009

|publisher = Special Court for Sierra Leone

|access-date = 2010-01-04

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607185501/http://www.sc-sl.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=kfoGm1VKHA4=&tabid=160

|archive-date = 7 June 2011

|url-status = dead}}

Shortly after, troops from Senegal arrived to strengthen ECOMOG, and were later deployed to Bong County in preparation for a planned disarmament of the rebel forces. However, Charles Taylor ordered his troops to attack the Senegalese, whom Bakut persuaded with difficulty to remain on the defensive. Soon after the Senegalese withdrew from the mission.{{cite web

|url=http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/2003/aug/09/0067.html

|title=ASYLUM: WELCOME TO HILL TOP, TAYLOR'S MANSION IN CALABAR

|author=George Onah

|date=9 August 2003

|publisher=BNW News

|access-date=2010-01-04}}

His replacement by Brigadier Adetunji Olurin had just been announced in October 1992, when Charles Taylor launched a terror attack on Monrovia. His troops barely maintained control of parts of the city until Olurin arrived in December 1992.{{cite web

|url = http://www.theperspectiv.org/octopus.html

|title = Anniversary of Terror: October 12 – Operation Octopus

|author = Abdoulaye W. Dukule

|publisher = The Perspective

|date = 12 October 2001

|access-date = 2010-01-04

}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In 1995 he was Principal Officer to Chief of General Staff, Lt. General Oladipo Diya.{{cite web

|url=http://www.biafraland.com/AUG_26/Biafraland%20NEW%20FACE%20OF%20IGBO.htm

|title=MASSOB: the real new face of Igbo?

|author=Ochereome Nnanna

|date=2 September 2004

|publisher=Biafraland

|access-date=2010-01-04}} On 21 March 2015, he died at the age of 67.{{Cite news|url=http://www.naij.com/407035-former-military-governor-of-benue-state-dies-at-67.html|title=SO SAD! Former Governor Dies at 67|last=Ayomide|first=Akinshilo|date=2015-03-23|work=Naija.ng - Nigeria news.|access-date=2017-12-20|language=en-US}}